Lacing-holder.



'0. H. WORTH & B. LEON.

LAGING HOLDER. APPLICATION FILED maze, 191s.

Patnted Mar. 17, 1914.

Charles wi tmcooeo cum/mum I'LANOGRAI'H c0 WASHINGTON. D. C.

CHARLES H. WORTH, OF BARRINGTON, AND BENJAMIN LEON, OF CAMDEN, NEW

' JERSEY.

LACING-HOLDER.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented Mar. 17, 1914.

To all whom, it may concern:

Be it known that we, CHARLns H. WORTH and BENJAMIN LEON, citizens of theUnited States, residing, respectively, at Barrington, county of Camden,and State of New Jersey, and Camden, county of Camden, and State of NewJersey, have invented certain new.

and useful Improvements in Lacing-Holders, of which thefollowing is aspecification.

Our invention relates to improvements in lacing holders, and moreparticularly to an improved attachment adapted to be secured to a shoeand secure one end of a shoe lacing, permitting the lacing to beloosened and tightened as desired.

A further object is to provide an attachment of this character whichmaybe manufactured and sold at a reasonably low price, which may beattached to the shoe by any one of average intelligence, and which isdesigned to wind thereon one end of a shoe lacing, keeping the shoelacing tight, yet permitting the same to be loosened whenever it isdesired to remove the shoe.

With these and other objects in view, the

invention consists in certain novel features of construction andcombinations and arrangements of parts as will be more fully hereinafterdescribed and pointed out in the claims. i

In the accompanying. drawings :7 Figure 1 is a view illustrating inperspective in dotted lines a shoe having a lacing which is held at oneend by our improved attachment. Fig. 2 is a view in side elevation ofthe attachment. Fig. 8 is a view in longitudinal section on an enlargedscale. Fig. 4 is an end view of the attachment with the outer buttonremoved. Fig. 5 is an end view of the cylindrical casing.

Our improvedattachment comprises a cylindrical casing 1 having a centralopening 2 in its end through which a threaded stud 3 projects. This stud3 has an-integral head 4 which is adapted to be positioned against theinside of the shoe as indicated at 5, and project through the shoe andthrough the opening 2 in casing 1, and engage internal threads in atubular screw 6. A drum 7 is.

through an opening 10 in casing l, and then 7, and knotted as indicatedat 12 in Fig. 4. The drum 7 is provided centrally with a cylmdricalrecess 13, and a coiled spring 14 is located within the recess 13, andbears at its inner end against a shoulder 15 at the inner end of therecess, and at its outer end against an enlarged head l6-on tubularscrew 6. This coiled spring 1 1 therefore holds the drum 7 in its inwardposition, and said drum is provided with an annular milled flange 17 tofacilitate the gripping of the drum to allow it tobe manually turned.This milled flange 17, at regular intervals, is provided with beveledteeth 18 which ride into beveled notches 19 in the wall of easing 1, andhold the drum against movement in one direction. It is to be understoodthat the lac ing 9 is wound on the drum when the latter is turned in adirection to compel its teeth 18 to ride into and out of the notches,and is held'by the straight walls of said notches against release. Whenit is desired to loosen the lacing, it is necessary to draw the drumoutwardly against the action of spring 14, when a pull on the lacingwill turn the drum to unwind the same. The drum 7 is pro .vided at itsouter end with an annular groove 22 into which the edge of a metal diskbutton 30 is sprung.- This button 20 therefore hides the end of the drum7, and the end of screw 5, and turnswith the drum, it being understoodthat the milled flange 17 projects outwardly beyond the button, so thatit may be readily grasped.

The shoe lacing 9 is knotted at one end as indicated at 21, and thenlaced backwardly and forwardly through the shoe eyelets. The .free endof the lacing 9 is then projected through the opening '11 in drum 7, andknotted as shown at 12. When the shoe is in position on the foot, thelacing is drawn tight, and drum 7 is turned in a direction to wind thelacing thereon. Any retrograde movement of the drum is prevented by theratchet teeth 18. When it is desired to remove the shoe, the operatorgrasps the milled flange 17 between his thumb and fingers, and draws thedrum outwardly, when by exerting a pull on the lacing, he can turn thedrum in a direction to unwind and allow as much slack in the lacing asdesired.

It will thus be seen that with our improvements in position on a shoe,the annoyance through an opening 11 in one side of drum of untied shoestrings is entirely overcome, and furthermore the shoe remains tightlylaced or laced to suit the user without any change after once adjusting.

Various slight changes might be made in the general form and arrangementof parts described without departing from our in- I vention, and hencewe do not limit ourselves to the precise details set forth, but considerourselves at liberty to make such changes and alterations as fairly fallwithin the spirit and scope of the appended claims.

Having thus described our invention, what we claim as new and desire tosecure by Letters Patent is:

l. A device of the character described, comprising a cylindrical casinghaving notches in its wall, a drum having rotary mounting in the casingand adapted to be connected to one end of a lacing and wind the latterthereon, an annular flange 011 the drum of larger diameter than thecasing, a ratchet tooth on the flange, and a spring pressing the druminwardly in the casing tending to hold the ratchet tooth in one of thenotches, substantially as described.

2. A device of the character described, comprising a cylindrical casing,a screw located centrally in the casing, a drum mounted to turn in thecasing and around the screw, said drum having a central cylindricalrecess with an annular shoulder at the inner end thereof, a coiledspring located between the enlarged outer end of the screw and saidshoulder, pressing the drum within the casing, said casing having acircular series of notches in its outer edge, and said drum having acircular series of beveled teeth engaging in said notches, substantiallyas described.

3. A device of the character described, comp-rising a cylindricalcasing, a screw located centrally in the casing, a drum mounted to turnin the casing and around the screw, said drum having a centralcylindrical recess with an annular shoulder at the inner end thereof, acoiled spring located between the enlarged outer end of the screw andsaid shoulder, pressing the drum within the casing, said casing having acircular series of notches in its outer edge, said drum having acircular series of beveled teeth engaging in said notches, and anannular milled flange on said drum projecting beyond the wall of thecasing, substantially as described.

4. A device of the character described, comprising a cylindrical casing,a screw located centrally in the casing, a drum mounted to turn in thecasing and around the screw, said drum having a central cylindricalrecess with an annular shoulder at the inner end thereof, a coiledspring 10- cated between the enlarged outer end of the screw and saidshoulder, pressing the drum within the casing, said casing having acircular series of notches in its outer edge, said drum having acircular series of beveled teeth engaging in said notches, said drumhaving an annular groove adjacent its outer end, and a metal buttonhaving its edges sprung into said groove, substantially as described.

5. A device of the character described, comprising a cylindrical casing,a screw located centrally in the casing, a drum mounted to turn in thecasing and around the screw, said drum having a central cylindricalrecess with an annular shoulder at the inner end thereof, a coiledspring located between the enlarged outer end of the screw and saidshoulder, pressing the drum within the casing, said casing having acircular series of notches in its outer edge, said drum having acircular series of beveled teeth engaging in said notches, an annularmilled flange on said drum projecting beyond the wall of the casing,said drum having an annular groove adjacent its outer end, and a metalbutton having its edges sprung into said groove, substantially asdescribed.

6. A device of the character described, comprising a cylindrical casinghaving beveled notches in its outer wall, a drum mounted to turn in thecasing and having a central cylindrical recess, an internallyscrewthreaded tubular screw projecting through said cylinder and havingan enlarged outer end, a screw-threaded stud adapted to be projectedthrough an opening in a shoe and screwed into a tubular screw, anenlarged head on said stud adapted to be located inside the shoe, acoiled spring around the tubular screw between the annular shoulder ofthe drum and the enlarged end of the tubular screw, a circular series ofratchet teeth on said drum engaging in the notches in the casing, saidcasing having an opening therein, and a lacing projected through theopening in the casin and secured to the drum, substantially as described.

7. A device of the character described, comprising a cylindrical casinghaving beveled notches in its outer wall, a drum mounted to turn in thecasing and having a central cylindrical recess, an internallyscrewthreaded tubular screw projecting through said cylinder and havingan enlarged outer end, a screw-threaded stud adapted to be projectedthrough an opening in a shoe and screwed. into a tubular screw, anenlarged head on said stud adapted to be located inside the shoe, acoiled spring around the tubular screw between the annular shoulder ofthe drum and the enlarged end of the tubular screw, a circular series ofratchet its its

teeth on said drum engaging inthe notches in the casing, said casinghavingan opening therein, a lacing projected through the opening in thecasing and secured to the iso drum, and a button sprung over the outerthat it may be turned in either direction, end of the drum,substantially as described. substantially as described.

8. A device of the character described, In testimony whereof we havesigned our comprising a cylindrical casing, a drum names to thisspecification in the presence of 15 mounteg to turn iln the casinghandmovable two subscribing witnesses. longitu inally re ative to t e casinga ratchet means between the drum and the casing, and a spring exertinginward pressure on the drum normally holding the ratchet Witnesses:means in operative engagement, yet permit- C. R. ZIEGLER, ting the drumto be moved longitudinally so R. H. KRUNKEL.

Copies of this patent may be obtained for five cents each, byaddreuingthe Commissioner of Patents. Washington, D. 0.

